‘Batman V Superman Dawn Of Justice' Release Date Showdown Explained: Warner Thought Marvel Would Not Have A Film Ready For May 6, 2016 Playdate! 'Our Reconnaissance Wasn't Great'

The announcement that "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" is moving away from the May 6, 2016 release date will always get the taunts and cat-calls no matter how they package it. Warner Bros. has to move on and they promise a lot to look forward to.

The damage control operation on a public relations nightmare can only do so much and the best part was an admission of error.

It was delivered by Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.' president of domestic distribution through EW:

"In terms of going back and reviewing the situation, it looked to us, and maybe our reconnaissance wasn't great, that they were not going to have a movie [ready] on that date. Just that they held onto it and they might not be able to deliver. But they took another position."

Warner Bros. knew it made a bad call. Not many people will believe this explanation. They have not really made a crystal clear explanation on the delay of "Batman V Superman" (back then, it was still known  as the Man of Steel sequel). Given that the delay was necessary, there are more than 50 release dates in a year, and they had to pick THAT one.

There was also the timing. Did Warner play "wait and see" what happens to "Guardians of the Galaxy" which was clearly Marvel's riskiest project? When they saw that Marvel can take a bunch of relatively unknown characters and rake in $ 94 million in opening weekend, was that the point when they made the call?

Or did they base it on Comic Con reactions? But the "Batman V Superman" presentation was a big hit. Did Warner already decide on it before Comic Con, but for obvious reasons, they would not make the announcement there?

All of those are moot points, but they are amusing. What we do know is that Marvel is having a great year. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" doubled its predecessors' box office take and was dubbed "The best movie Marvel has made." But we hear that phrase now with "Guardians of the Galaxy."

Comic book fans' vivid imagination will always have the picture of Warner Bros. as the bully who got owned. Nevertheless, "Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice" will make a ton of money whenever they release it. Fellman actually pointed that out:

"The reality now is there really isn't a bad week to open a movie. If you look at the summer box office this year, you can see that there were so many movies, one after the other."

They should've realized that before they played chicken with release dates.